Measuring the Work of Intermediaries in the St. Louis Region

This guide serves to encourage funders and intermediaries to think about intermediary nonprofit organizations and their outcomes differently as well as explain how these two groups can partner successfully to create change. "We do not fund intermediaries" is often times used as a blanket statement by funders. This statement has led many nonprofit organizations to claim "we are not an intermediary" to avoid getting lumped into a certain bucket when they are in fact an intermediary organization. This guide will give insight into both the communications struggles and best practices that funders and intermediaries encounter with one another and give examples of successful funder/intermediary partnerships.

Funders and intermediaries may want to explore new ways of partnering together because the traditional funder/nonprofit relationship is not always effective when it comes to working with intermediaries.
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Funders should consider being more involved with intermediaries beyond just holding them accountable for the funds they receive.
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Funders and intermediaries should try to create a trusting, and honest relationship. Accountability is an important piece of this relationship but it can be informal.
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Funders should consider funding evaluation for intermediaries. Funders report that they struggle to understand the outcome that intermediaries provide and intermediaries report that they struggle to develop clear intermediate and long-term outcomes.
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